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Another tough day for Jaguars QB Blaine Gabbert, but Gus Bradley standing behind him

Gary McCullough for the Times-Union Blaine Gabbert is sacked by the Colts' Robert Mathis (98) and several of his teammates during the second half on Sunday.

Quarterback Blaine Gabbert returned to the starting lineup Sunday after missing two games with a hand injury, but not much changed. The Jaguars struggled and Gabbert fell to 5-21 as a starter.

He had three passes intercepted — including one returned for a touchdown — but all bounced off the hands of his receivers. Gabbert finished with 179 passing yards and posted a 30.6 passer rating in the 37-3 loss to Indianapolis.

In his two starts, Gabbert has a 30.7 passer rating and five interceptions, including a pair of Pick-Sixes.

Still, coach Gus Bradley, who talked about Gabbert playing with more freedom last week, is sticking with him.

“I’m standing strong with Blaine,’’ he said.

Bradley even suggested they may have to coach Gabbert better.

“Maybe what we thought were his strengths, maybe we have to dig deeper and find out what they are,’’ he said. “Hopefully, we can find out very soon.’’

In reality, Bradley doesn’t have much choice but to stick with Gabbert.

Backup Chad Henne was ineffective in his two starts and the third-team quarterback, Ricky Stanzi, was cut in a roster move although he may be back next week. But Stanzi is in his third NFL season and has yet to play in a game.

Bradley said he has to see more of Gabbert to make a judgment, especially since the Jaguars’ receivers didn’t always help their quarterback on Sunday.

“There’s a couple of interceptions that went through hands,’’ Bradley said. “At times, I think he did take some chances. We’ve got him to try to throw the fade ball, that was an interception. We’re going to continue to do that. We’ve got to stretch these defenses out somehow and we’ve got to take some shots on top.

“I think it’s a situation where Blaine’s got to compete, the offensive line has got to compete and the receivers have got to compete. I think he tried to do some things and that’s going to be a process.’’

Gabbert wasn’t pointing any fingers after the game.

“It starts with me at the quarterback position. I have to put the ball in a better spot and I just have to execute,’’ he said.

Asked about the frustration of losing, Gabbert said: “It’s got to stop. It doesn’t sit well with anyone in this locker room. If anybody in this locker room says they’re satisfied, that’s a lie. We have to take this in stride and we’ve got to learn from it. It’s a long year and things didn’t go the way we wanted in the first four weeks, but we still have a chance to do some good things.’’

Gabbert was without several of his targets against the Colts.

Tight end Marcedes Lewis lasted just three plays before his calf injury forced him out again. Justin Blackmon was serving the final game of his suspension and two more receivers, Mike Brown and Stephen Burton, were out with injuries.

That left Cecil Shorts as the main receiver along with rookie Ace Sanders, and two players brought up from the practice squad, Jeremy Ebert and Tobais Palmer.

Shorts led the team with seven catches, but two passes bounced off his hands and were intercepted. Darius Butler returned one 41 yards for a score.